Vida Movahed

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Iranian woman on the main square in Linz in solidarity with Vida Movahed and against the headscarf requirement in Iran.
The distribution box where Vida Movahed protested on December 27, 2017. The box was then changed with a pointed gable, as seen here, to prevent further protests.

Vida Movahed , also Wida Mowahed (ویدا موحد; * 1986 or 1987), is an Iranian protester against compulsory coverage for women. The picture of Vida Movahed waving her headscarf on a stick has become an icon and symbol of resistance in Iran. Their action found numerous imitators. Vida Movahed was arrested and released a few weeks later after global protests.

Life

The 31-year-old Vida Movahed took off her headscarf on December 27, 2017 in the center of the Iranian capital Tehran in protest against the headscarf compulsory, standing on a distribution box on the busy Enghelab street and silently putting on the headscarf for almost an hour holding a stick in the air. "Enghelab" means "revolution" in Persian . Enghelab Street got its name after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The identity of Vida Movahed was initially unknown, so she was initially called the woman from Enghelab Street . She was arrested shortly afterwards. Over the next few days there were nationwide protests in Iran, in which the economic situation and religious fundamentalism were denounced. The nationwide uproar against corruption , unemployment and social misery led to around 4,000 arrests at the beginning of 2018.

Vida Movahed's example found many imitators across the country. Photos and videos of activists quickly spread on social media in the Republic of Iran. Vida Movahed became a symbol of the dissident protests in the country. Pictures and recordings of Vida Movahed attracted worldwide attention. On January 24, 2018, Amnesty International requested the Iranian government to release Vida Movahed immediately and unconditionally. According to lawyer and human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh , she was released on January 28th. But she coped with the conditions of detention very poorly and will therefore no longer appear in public.

Effects

On February 1, 2018, the Iranian police arrested 29 other women who had publicly removed their headscarves. On February 2, the United States Department of State condemned the arrests of the women. The women face prison sentences of up to ten years: Narges Hosseini, who was arrested on January 29, was charged with “having committed a sinful act”, “having offended public shame” and “calling for immorality and prostitution” . The fine was set at the equivalent of $ 135,000.

In a report dated February 26, 2018, Amnesty International noted that, since December 2017, 35 women have been arrested and ill-treated in captivity in Tehran alone for participating in protests against the compulsory headscarf.

In an open letter to the EU Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini dated February 20, 2018, 45 members of the European Parliament demand an official statement against Iran, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of the women arrested. The open letter was sent on February 28, 2018 via the office of MEP Marietje Schaake .

On March 8, 2018, on the occasion of International Women's Day , at least one hundred women and men tried to gather in front of the Ministry of Labor in Tehran to protest. The meeting was immediately disbanded. At least 84 people (59 women and 25 men) were taken into police custody and transported to prison in police vehicles that were waiting.

On March 7, 2018, Tehran's chief public prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, announced, without specifying a specific name, that a woman had been sentenced to two years in prison for taking off her headscarf in public in December 2017. The public prosecutor also criticized the judge’s judgment because the woman had to serve three months of the sentence and the rest of the sentence was suspended. He will work to ensure that the woman has to serve the entire term of the sentence. The duration of detention for political reasons in Iran is regularly extended without further explanation. After initial fears that the convicted was Vida Movahed, it is now known that it is Narges Hosseini. An appeal was filed against the judgment on March 26, 2018. On March 25th, Maryam Shariatmadari was sentenced to one year in prison for dropping her face towel on a distribution box on February 25th, 2018 in protest in a public action. Maryam Shariatmadari was knocked off the distribution box by a police officer and was injured in the process.

prehistory

As early as September 12, 1979, shortly after the introduction of Sharia , the Islamic legal system, in the course of the Islamic revolution in Iran, the Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci publicly and demonstratively took off her headscarf during an interview with Ayatollah Khomeini . Oriana Fallaci complained that the women were in a situation similar to apartheid , that they could not study, work or simply go to a swimming pool with men. Khomeini replied that it was none of her business and that she did not have to wear the chador if she did not want to: Islamic clothing was something for “good and decent women”. Oriana Fallaci thanked her politely and then tore the chador off her head with the remark "that stupid, medieval rag". The interview was terminated prematurely.

For a long time, especially in Theran, more and more women have been refusing to wear a headscarf while driving, arguing that the car is a private space in which more open clothing rules apply. The concern has been raised in recent years, among other things, through the online movement My Stealthy Freedom by the journalist Masih Alinejad on Facebook . Iranian women can post photos of themselves without a headscarf on this Facebook page. Masih Alinejad also founded the “White Wednesdays” campaign, in which women are called upon to wear a white headscarf on Wednesdays and to take it off in public in protest. The symbolic action by Vida Movahed on December 27, 2017 also took place on a Wednesday and she waved a white headscarf.

In December 2017, Tehran's chief of police, Hossein Rahimi, announced that his agency would no longer make arrests for violating the Islamic dress code of women. After numerous women got rid of the hijab in public protests , Hossein Rahimi announced that the police would not tolerate this behavior.

According to a 2014 report published by President Hassan Rohani's office on February 4, 2018 , around half of Iranian women consider wearing a headscarf a private matter and reject the state's regulations on the compulsory wearing of a headscarf. Hassan Rouhani believes that the Islamic Republic can only be sustained through reforms and not through strict adherence to principles. Also on February 4, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Eschei , Minister for Intelligence, announced that some of the demonstrators were said to have used synthetic drugs . He also noted that if the protests were found to be organized, the sentence would be much higher.

Vida Movahed's action has given the concerns of women's rights a new dynamic against the background of the cultural war that has been going on in Iran for a long time .

Current legislation

Under the current Islamic legislation of Iran, which was introduced with the Islamic Revolution of 1979, women aged nine and over must wear a headscarf and clothes that cover arms and legs. Violations are punished with prison sentences of up to 2 months, with fines of up to 500,000 rials (approx. 10 €) or beatings. The common slogan for this is "Ya rusari ya tusari" ("Either cloth or blows").

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Nahid Siamdoust: Why Iranian Women Are Taking Off Their Head Scarves. The New York Times . February 4, 2018, accessed February 4, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Jochen Bittner : Headscarf compulsory in Iran. Veil of ignorance. The time . February 7, 2018, accessed February 10, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Georg Hoffmann-Ostenhof : A picture of a woman. Five female icons of resistance. Profil.at . February 28, 2018, accessed March 1, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Enver Robelli: veil lots of freedom in Iran. More and more Iranian women are resisting the headscarf requirement. The regime wants to take tough action. Day indicator . February 1, 2018, accessed February 3, 2018 .
  5. ↑ a b Robin Wright: Hijab Protests Expose Iran's Core Divide. The New Yorker . February 7, 2018, accessed February 10, 2018 .
  6. ↑ a b Martin Gehlen : With your hair down against paternalism. Lucerne newspaper . February 3, 2018, accessed February 3, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Martin Gehlen : Iranian women protest against the headscarf. The press . February 2, 2018, accessed February 3, 2018 .
  8. ↑ More women take off their headscarves. Handelsblatt . January 29, 2018, accessed February 3, 2018 .
  9. ^ Richard Spencer: Iranian protester Vida Movahed, who made speech without a veil in Tehran, goes missing. The Times . January 26, 2018, accessed February 3, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Iran Urged To Free Woman Who Took Stand Against Compulsory Veiling. Radio Free Europe . January 25, 2018, accessed February 3, 2018 .
  11. ↑ a b Adam Lusher: Girl of Enghelab Street: Iranian woman who stood in Tehran street without a hijab released from custody, says lawyer. The Independent . January 29, 2018, accessed February 3, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Anti-headscarf protester is apparently released from custody on spiegel.de on January 29, 2018
  13. ↑ Ebrahim Noroozi: Iran takes action against opponents of headscarves . In: NZZ . February 1, 2018, p. 2 .
  14. ↑ a b c d Barbara Wenz: Simple solidarity. Courageous women fight for their human dignity in Muslim countries. Is the West failing you? The daily mail . February 21, 2018, accessed February 26, 2018 .
  15. ↑ Tehran hijab protest: Iranian police arrest 29 women. The Guardian . February 2, 2018, accessed February 3, 2018 .
  16. ↑ US Condemns Iran's Arrest Of Protesters Against Compulsory Hijab. Radio Free Europe . February 3, 2018, accessed February 3, 2018 .
  17. ↑ How Iran's brave women are fighting for right to ditch their hijabs. The Telegraph . February 9, 2018, accessed February 10, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Iranian women's deep discontent. The Washington Post . February 10, 2018, accessed February 11, 2018 .
  19. ↑ Iran: Dozens of women ill-treated and at risk of long jail terms for peacefully protesting compulsory veiling. Amnesty International . February 26, 2018, accessed February 27, 2018 .
  20. ^ Marietje Schaake : Letter to HR / VP on anti-hijab protests in Iran. February 20, 2018, accessed March 1, 2018 .
  21. ↑ 45 European MPs Call on EU Foreign Policy Chief to Support Iranian Women's Anti-Compulsory-Hijab Protest. Center for Human Rights in Iran. February 28, 2018, accessed March 1, 2018 .
  22. ↑ Frieda Afary: İran'da kadınların eylemleri ve emek direnişleri sürüyor. Gazete Karnica. March 10, 2018, accessed March 11, 2018 (Turkish).
  23. ↑ Iran Sentences Woman to 24 Months for Removing Headscarf. Bloomberg LP March 7, 2018, accessed March 10, 2018 .
  24. ^ A b Supreme Leader Khamenei Public Rejects the Principles of International Women's Day. irannewsupdate.com. March 9, 2018, accessed March 10, 2018 .
  25. ^ A b Paul-Anton Krüger: Anti-headscarf protester must be in custody. The South German . March 9, 2019, accessed March 10, 2018 .
  26. ↑ a b Erin Cunningham: In Iran, women shed headscarves to protest oppression. Portland Press Herald. March 10, 2018, accessed March 11, 2018 .
  27. ^ A b Second Iranian Woman Sentenced to Prison for Protesting Mandatory Hijab. Center for Human Rights in Iran. March 28, 2018, accessed April 9, 2018 .
  28. ↑ a b Saeed Kamali Dehghan: Second woman arrested in Tehran for hijab protest. The Guardian . January 29, 2018, accessed February 3, 2018 .
  29. ↑ a b c Monika Bolliger: The veil in the Iranian culture war. NZZ . February 6, 2018, accessed February 6, 2018 .
  30. ^ Center for Strategic Studies. www.css.ir. 2014, Retrieved February 6, 2018 (Persian).
  31. ↑ Sara Malm: Women around the world burn their hijabs in protest against the headscarf as report shows half of Iranians think nobody should be made to wear them. Daily Mail . February 6, 2018, accessed February 6, 2018 .
  32. ↑ واکنش محسنی اژه‌ای به موضوع بی‌حجابی چند نفر در خیابان. Iranian Students' News Agency ISNA. February 4, 2018, Retrieved February 7, 2018 (Persian).
  33. ↑ Fears for hijab-waving "hero". The Sun . January 23, 2018, accessed February 3, 2018 .
  34. ^ Article 638 . In: Volume 5 of the Islamic Criminal Code . (Persian).
personal data
SURNAME Movahed, Vida
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mowahed, Wida
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Iranian protester against compulsory coverage for women
DATE OF BIRTH 1986 or 1987